At the Stade de France,
Mission accomplished for Fabien Galthié’s Ghostbusters. For its reunion with the Stade de France, a little over a year after the traumatic defeat against South Africa, the XV of France quickly exorcised the demons of the 2023 World Cup by opening the score from the 4th minute thanks to the man of the match, Louis Bielle-Biarrey. The Bordeaux player opened a ball of eight tries, six of which were transformed by Thomas Ramos, which led to a success with a 40-point difference. Not bad for chasing away the depression and puffing out the chest before welcoming the All Blacks, who had “only” planted 15 more points on the Brave Blossoms, decidedly far from what they were in 2015.
Enthusiasm will not cross the boundaries of the demands of the French staff, seated to our left in the stands, and whose annoyance disturbed our peace at the slightest technical error or stupid mistake conceded. Léo Barré felt his ears heat up 50 meters away after crunching the ball in one of the rare collective actions consistent with the new revolution in the possession game advocated by the coach.
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Too much indiscipline, not enough possession
For the moment, it's not quite that: the Japanese may have had a tough time, they finished the match with 54% possession, 232 passes (compared to 161 for the Blues) and 167 races with the ball (137 for France). Alexandre Roumat is well aware of the importance of having to reverse the slider against the All Blacks. “We defended for a long time, and we scored quickly when we had the ball. We had the impression, not of being dominated, but there was an imbalance. Defending against one of the biggest teams in the world won't be easy. If they have as much possession as the Japanese, it will be difficult. »
Another big problem unanimously singled out and as big as a house is indiscipline. 11 penalties to 7, three quarters of which conceded in the first period, it's a knockout. at the break against the All Blacks. And that's why Fabien Galthié allowed himself to give his team a hard time at the break, when the score was 31-0. Quite a concept.
« “We wanted to show too much aggression and commitment,” recognizes Peato Mauvaka, hooker, 3rd line and occasional winger. It wasn't a first half that we weren't used to giving, especially in the ruck zones where we were penalized a lot. It's not in our image but it's also the fact of wanting to do well and wanting to save the team by being more aggressive than the opposing team, but sometimes it doesn't go our way. We will have a lot of work for New Zealand. » »
The All Blacks have just beaten England and Ireland
The word is weak. The All Blacks have just had three victories, including two very serious ones against England and Ireland, on Friday evening, and seem to be back on top. “The Blacks are very strong, they are challenged, even against England where they are heckled, but in the end they end up winning,” analyzes Grégory Alldritt. This is what great teams are all about. We have been warned. Everyone buried them during the CDM, but I announced that we had to be careful. They had to digest their lost final, they had to restart a new cycle with a new coach. They arrive with rugby, with confidence. » And the desire to also reconcile with the Stade de France. The Blues do not have a monopoly on bad memories.
